http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2645774


Mich. St. news conference to discuss coach situation

ESPN.com news services

Michigan State has called a press conference for 1:30 ET Wednesday to discuss its football coaching situation.

The Spartans started the season 3-0 under head coach John L. Smith, but have gone just 1-5 since. That slump started with a 40-37 loss to Notre Dame in which Michigan State squandered a 16-point fourth quarter lead.

That was followed by a 23-20 home loss to Illinois, a team now 2-7 on the season. Blowout losses to Big Ten powers Michigan and Ohio State came next before a stunning comeback in a 41-38 win at Northwestern.

Most recently, the Spartans were drubbed 46-21 at Indiana last Saturday.

Chris Smeland rumored to be taking over.

Why now? That makes no sense. Trying to get the inside edge in the coaching hunt? MSU's football program makes my head hurt.

Wow, shocking. And Glenn, I'm loving the old school Saginaw Gears av. Representin' the home town, Sag-nasty baby. I feel it!

JLS Press Conference at 1:30
EAST LANSING -- Michigan State has called a press conference regarding the football program for 1:30 p.m. at Spartan Stadium. It will be attended by president Lou Anna K. Simon, athletic director Ron Mason and board of trustee chairman David Porteous.

It will mark an end to the four-year John L. Smith head-coaching era, according to my sources. Details on whether it will be a firing or a negotiated resignation are not readily available.

Regardless, "it's not good (for Smith)," is how one source close to the situation termed things.

Unsubstantiated rumors are that defensive coordinator Chris Smeland will finish out the season as interim head coach, which is interesting since offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin had previous collegiated head-coaching experience at San Jose State.

The timing of this move is also peculiar since Smith feasibly could still have righted the ship with four straight wins, including a bowl game, not a gross impossibility.

This is speculation, but it would not be surprising is Smith was simply worn down by the constant negativity that was building against the program, and given his wife's delicate condition, just figured he has had enough.

This also gets word out to prospective replacements as soon as possible.

Lou Anna is supposed to be in GR tonight for an alumni event prior to the MSU/GVSU basketball game.

I'm guessing she won't make it now.

Who will the next "long term" (short term) stop gap MSU football coach be? It's just a constant cycle of clowns.

Some dude named Smeland is taking over? Yikes! I wonder if Nichol, Dell, and Landingham will stay committed.

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/9024/moochxx8.jpg
"We're building something pretty good here"

The green paint brush. That's next level shit there Glenn. Props.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! Thank you! I don't know what you guys are talking about! This is perfect timing! First of all, you want to start working on a head coach right away so that the coach can start recruiting and he can contact the commits and keep them in green. Second of all, did you catch the last game? JLS had no chance of winning the remaining three. Maybe him leaving will spark a little excitement and get them a win or two. Who cares though. This is about the future.

You get working on a new head coach right away and he won't have to have a opening down year in recruiting like JLS did his first year. You can preserve the solid class and maybe even spark interest in new recruits if you hire the right guy.

BTW Moodini, MSU has had 2 bad coaches. Bobby was horrible. You can count JLS as the 2nd, but he basically did exactly what your boy Tommy A did, he was hired to clean things up. Endless cycle of clowns?! Nick Saban was there before Bobby and I'll take Saban over just about anybody.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2645774

Resignation? LOL


Michigan State coach Smith resigning after season

By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com

With three games remaining in another disappointing season, Michigan State has decided that John L. Smith will not return to coach the 2007 season.

University president Lou Anna K. Simon is expected to make the announcement at a 1:30 p.m. ET news conference on campus.

Smith will coach the Spartans through the end of this season, including a bowl game. Michigan State, 4-5 this season, must win two of its three remaining games against Purdue, Minnesota and Penn State, to qualify for a postseason invitation.

The university will buy out the remaining two years on his contract. His annual salary is $1.35 million. However, Smith's buyout clause is $1.5 million.


Smith turned around a moribund program in 2003, his first season, taking the Spartans to an 8-5 record and an Alamo Bowl berth. However, that has been his only winning season. His last three teams have been dogged by inconsistency. The Spartans record under Smith is 22-23, including 0-4 marks against Michigan and Ohio State.

The Spartans started the 2006 season 3-0 under Smith, but have gone just 1-5 since. That slump started with a 40-37 loss to Notre Dame on Sep. 23 in which Michigan State squandered a 16-point fourth quarter lead.

That was followed by a 23-20 homecoming loss on Sept. 30 to Illinois, a team that had not won a Big Ten game since 2004. Blowout losses to conference powers Michigan and Ohio State came next before a stunning comeback in a 41-38 win at Northwestern on Oct. 21, a game they trailed 38-3 in the third quarter.

Most recently, the Spartans were drubbed 46-21 at Indiana last Saturday. Michigan State took a 7-0 lead before the Hoosiers scored 46 consecutive points.

They do anything they can do to kick Doc Tre in the nuts, repeatedly.

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/9024/moochxx8.jpg
"We're building something pretty good here"

[smilie=rofl.gif][smilie=rofl.gif]

Where's your coach?

RIP....all UofM fans will miss you
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/b/b4/179px-Riddler-carrey.jpg

Wow, this news has been crazy today. Tons of names being thrown out.

I'm confused, was John L. fired or did he "resign" but stay on to coach the team. The reports on here say "resigned" but MSU's website says he was actually fired.

This happened because MSU admin were getting upset at the whole UM vs OSU thing and wanted to steer some of the stories over to his school; be it good or bad.

Such an inferiority complex, always the little brother in football..:)

Filly, they told him he was done but they said they'd negotiate a "resignation."

RIP....all UofM fans will miss you
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/b/b4/179px-Riddler-carrey.jpg
[smilie=applause.gi:[smilie=rofl.gif]

HAHAHAHAHA! Classic!

Tre, the next coach will actually be the 5th cat to coach MSU football since the beginning of the Lloyd Carr era. Saban, Bobby Williams, Morris Watts, The Riddler and whoever the next clown is.

And you are hyping Saban like he was Bear Bryant or something. He was 34-24-1 at MSU with 0 Big Ten titles.

Better luck next time Sparties.

Morris Watts? What the hell are you talking about? When you fire a coach and the cordinator finishes the season, he's not the head coach. Give me a break.

And yes, I will hype Saban because he's a great coach. He left MSU right when he got them to the top. They were 10-2 and #5 when he left. You can't fault him for average seasons in the beginning without his own players. And Saban then left for more money and won a National Title at LSU. I think he's pretty good.

MSU's Last 4
Good Coach->Great Coach->Bad Coach->Bad Coach

According to Moodini this is an endless cycle of clowns. Right.

Who's the good coach? Perles? Geez, he was 68-67-4 at MSU. More like average coach. Saban did OK at MSU, nothing special. He eventually did become a great coach at LSU, but MSU will always be a "stepping stone" school for coaches. If they get a great coach, he'll do pretty well at State, then go elsewhere and go to the next level, like Saban.

It's tough to be "elite" when you have to recruit against Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame every year.

Yeah, it kind of makes me scratch my head when you call a guy who used you and dropped you like a bad habit a great coach. If you want another great coach like that, have fun riding that rollercoaster.

Tre, if you're going by records at different schools then you should consider John L. a great coach: he was 41-21 at Louisville, and a 53-21 record at Idaho. That seems pretty good.

Saban hovered around .500 for his first 3 years and then had the year where he went 9-2. While I agree Saban was a good coach, he really wasn't all that special at MSU. Could he have been? Maybe. We'll never know.

The only one on your list that I could classify as a "bad" coach was Williams. That guy was just lost.

For some reason I see John L. coaching on a blue field next year.

Yeah, it kind of makes me scratch my head when you call a guy who used you and dropped you like a bad habit a great coach. If you want another great coach like that, have fun riding that rollercoaster.

You guys apparantly do not know the story. Saban was offered the LSU job and more money there. He went to MSU and asked for them to match the offer and told them that if they did, he'd stay.

They refused, bad mistake.

He didn't use MSU, he was willing to stay there.